Hard Candy Suckers!!! Caution....There addictive to make!!!

So, I think we all have childhood memories of great hard candy suckers in some sort of cute shape. BUT that doesn't mean we know how to make these magical creations. About 4 months ago I went to a friends yard sale and stumbled on a box of Hard Candy Sucker supplies...... 15 molds, sticks and wrappers and for a steal of $5 for the entire box.........killer deal and I bought it. My bestie friend Barbara told me she knew how to make them and we made them one day (note: our kids went and sold them to neighborhood kids and made $28 Hoot Hoot) Let me tell you they were EASY EASY EASY to make and they look so cool and the kids absolutely love them. I am semi-addicted to making suckers. The only reason I am not totally addicted is because I have 10 million other things I am semi-addicted to.

Anyway......Here is how I make Hard Candy Suckers and a few of my tricks to the trade.

 I made Strawberry Cream suckers

for my son, Blake to give a sucker basket to his friend on her Birthday!!! (NOTE......I WILL BE POSTING A HARD SUCKER 101 POST LATER SINCE I DO NOT THINK THERE ARE ENOUGH POST ON BLOGS ABOUT SUCKER MAKING)

Must Haves: Pot, Pam Spray, White Hard Candy Molds (at least 3-4), Karo Syrup, Sugar, 
Water, Sucker Sticks, Sucker Wrappers w/ ties or Tape, Candy Thermometer, 
Spatula, Pink Food Coloring, Strawberry Candy Flavoring & Measuring Cups.

Extras, but HIGHLY Recommended: Clear Vanilla Flavoring, White Food Coloring, Candy Eyes (if your mold has eyes),  Nerds, Large Glass Pyrex Measuring Cup.

1~ First Thing to do is get your molds ready.......make sure you have hard candy molds and NOT just chocolate molds. It is a hard white or opaque mold. You will melt your mold if it is not the right kind OR you may have the metal molds that clip on to your sucker stick!!!

 Spray your molds with Pam and add sticks. Make sure you have ALL and even extra molds ready encase you have extra. You can never be too prepared because once it's ready to pour ....you pour. Depending on the depth of each mold....it varies how many suckers you'll get. I got 21 suckers from this particular batch, but when I do ALL owls I only get 17-18. My cute owl molds have eye spots perfect to put candy eyes I got from Walmart in the cake decorating section. Add nerds to your molds now as well. I only put nerds in half my suckers.

2~ In a pot or med size pan......add 2 Cups White Sugar, 2/3 Cup Karo Syrup and 3/4 Cups Water

 and stir with spatula until mixed and on Med/High Heat.

 3~ Once your mixture is boiling you do NOT stir anymore. Stirring upsets the crystallization crap
 or something like that.....just enjoy the fact you no longer have to stir. :)  
Add your Candy Thermometer and make sure it is not touching the bottom of the pan, but is covered by the mixture!

4~ OK, this may sound weird, but put your large (4 cup) Glass Pyrex Measuring Cup in the microwave
 for 3 minutes and leave it there until I say.

5~ Do nothing until the mixture reaches 260 degrees( you may have to turn the heat up a little to reach this). Then add coloring and DON'T mix...the bubbles will do that for you. I used a gel food coloring in neon pink. Just a few squirts plus 2 drops of white food coloring...WHY you ask.....well I don't like my suckers completely clear when I am making my owls...the eyes look funny from the back of the head. Hee Hee But I DO add more (5-6 drops) white food coloring if I want a more opaque color or white ghost or something like that. It is a must have to me!!!!

6~  OK....this is babysitting time. Your heat will rise lots faster once it hits 260 degrees. Watch the thermometer like a HAWK. Once it has hit 300 degrees remove it from the heat and set it on a cool burner and remove the candy thermometer. I let the bubbles slow down a little and then add my Strawberry candy flavoring and a few splashes of vanilla ( use the clear kind so it doesn't change the color of your sucker...it's in the cake decorating section at Walmart) Stir slowly and be careful of any vapors that rise up towards your face. I use the extra potent Candy Flavoring from Loranns and I just need the tiny 1 dram bottles. Walmart does carry some flavors at my local store.

 7~ Now get that Pyrex Measuring Cup out of the Microwave......use a hot pad and place it on the counter.
 (I have you heat it up so it is doesn't cool the sucker mixture) Pour the hot Sucker mixture into
 it and use the spatula to scrap the edges.

 8~ Stop wasting time enjoying the strawberry smell and START POURING. I tend to pour by and on top of the stick first. Make sure the stick is covered well. Once you have it filled quickly move over to another mold. you will have little drip trails the entire way......no problem. When they are hard you and your kids get to munch on them. 
My kids call them the crunchy grass or hay.

9~ Your mixture will eventually start to cool off and be too hard to pour. I always have to microwave the last remnants for about 15 seconds (you may have to do it an additional 10-15 seconds, but no more than tat...it will burn... Yuck!!) Then you can get an extra sucker or two out of your mixture.

 10~ Yeah!!! Let them cool about 10-15 minutes and then it is revelation time!!! Hoot Hoot!!! Some of your suckers may have gotten too much and poured out a little. No worries when you pop them out you can break off the extra!!!

 I just love the owls...I found the molds on Ebay!!!! Note you will need at least 3 Owl molds.

11~ OK lets bag them. You have to bag them the same day or put the in an airtight container. If the suckers are exposed to air too much they will become stick. TIP: I personally hate the prices for sucker bags......so I went to the craft section and bought the 3x4 inch bead bags and cut the ziplock top off. They work great and are sturdy plastic.

12~ Tie the bag. If you buy sucker wrappers....most likely they will come with twist ties. 

TIPS: Alternatives are clear tape or pipe cleaners. You can get about 5 ties per pipe cleaner.

 

So I said Blake took a Sucker Basket to his friends Birthday party. 

Isn't he cute....well here is a little simple how to:

Supplies: Small Basket, Floral Foam, Tissue Paper and Suckers (I used 10 suckers) I ran out of time, but a little sign of Happy Birthday on a stick would have been cute!!!!

 1~ Getting your foam to fit the basket. I put the basket on top of the floral foam and made slashes all the way around with a knife. See circle shape?

 2~ Cut all extra foam off leaving only the circle. (note: ignore my finger in the picture)

3~ Put it in the basket to see if it fits

 4~ If it fits then start wrapping it in the tissue paper.

5~ Put it in the basket tissue edge side down.

 6~ If your really picky....put your suckers in order by height so you can arrange it more uniform and start poking!

 Hoot Hoot!!! Your ready to give it away or enjoy yourself. It is fun and easy to do and best of all it is something HOMEMADE. This entire basket gift cost me $3.25 to make and it was one of the highlights of the night!!!!

Notes: I used this cute tin basket, but you could use all sorts or containers like glass vase (wide mouth),

 Quart Jars (Wide Mouth), small watering can, recycle yogurt containers with wrapping paper around it,

 takeout boxes and much more!!!



BRINGING HOMEMADE BACK

Pirate Party Food

Here is a list of foods you can have at your Pirate Party.
Deadman Fingers – Bread or cookie dough shaped into fingers, add a sliver of almond for the nail and take a knife and make grooves for knuckles.

 Parrot Beaks – potatoe or orange wedges

 Parrot Legs – Chicken drumsticks Swimming with the Fishes snack mix – make chex cereal mix and dye it blue, then add goldfishes.

 Beware of Shark Punch – fill icecube trays with cranberry juice and gummi sharks, freeze. then on party night put lemon lime soda in beverage container and add icecubes. the icecubes will color your soda and once the sharks are loose they will float to the top.

 Long John Silver Peg Legs – chocolate covered pretzels (you will need the long straight pretzels) 

Squirmy Octopus’s – Hotdogs cut in half and then you cut legs in the bottoms, pop into a pot of boiling water so the legs will curl and then take them out and serve.

Cannonballs – chocolate malt balls or cheesy puffs

Goonie Dubloons – Chocolate coins with the silver or gold wrappers

Catch of the day – Gummi fish, gummi sharks and gummi octopus

One-Eyed Willies Rich Stuff – Candy Rings, Dubloons, Candy necklaces or any kind of candy jewelry

Flesh & Lard on a Bisquit – Meat & Cheese platter with crackers

Conference Ideas and Activities for your kids/Family

         Ok, Hoots.... I am Sorry this post is the night before Conference, but you can still get ready tonight and I am sure most of you have a printer. For those of you Non-LDS viewers.....Conference for my church is a Semiannual event where our Prophet and Apostles broadcast messages to help us strengthen ourselves, families and each other.

I am posting links to:   1) fun, printable activity books for all ages  2) a yummy Cinnamon Roll Recipe and 3) a cute idea for family or for your girls you Visit Teach.

1 -----fun, printable activity books for all ages
         So, FYI......I have a 8, 5, 4, and 7 month old owletts. Keeping kids still can be a challenge and  besides I want to listen. So the past few years I have done the conference bingo. It was fun, I enjoyed getting the candy for the Bingo cards.... BUT I am bored with it (so are my kids). SoI have been looking for new ideas. My favorite packets so far have come from Sugardoodle.net  This is a great church website for many things. Here is the link to get you to the October Conference packets and other ideas

http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8786%3Aoctober-2012-general-conference-packets&catid=3834&Itemid=200001

2) a yummy Cinnamon Roll Recipe

I saw a great idea about taking cinnamon rolls to the girls you visit teach the Friday Night before Conference so they could bake them in the morning and get the house all yummy smelling and lively. So, I decided I wanted to do that this year, but I really haven't ever made Cinamon Rolls before. NOTE: I don't eat cinnamon rolls unless they are super moist and chewy. I like to make things from scratch and I found a great recipe at the Pioneer Woman. PLUS you can refrigerate them OR freeze them. HOOT HOOT!!!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/   Original Recipe
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/10/notes-on-cinnamon-rolls/    This link has additional notes for the recipe

They turned out YUMMMY. I personally thought it needed less sugar when rolling them, but chewy and moist yes, yes, yes. The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup of brewed coffee.....weird, but I didn't use that. The second link I posted above has alternatives. I used those deep throw away metal pans. This recipe did 3 1/2 pans of 12 rolls per pan.

 3) a cute idea for family or for your girls you Visit Teach.

One of the girls I visit teach just moved into a new house and I knew she would not have stuff ready for her kids for conference. SOOOOOO,  I made a package for her.

The activity packets are from the sugardoodle site I mentioned, the cinnamon rolls are from the above recipe and the jars are an activity for her kids. Each jar has 2 "Keywords" hanging on a tag. Everytime they hear one of the Keywords during conference they get to pick a treat from the jar. This is a great instant gratification activity for anyone.....even adults.

The KeyWords are: Repentance, Scriptures, Prophet, Temple, Holy Ghost, Commandment, Prayer, Testimony, Faith and Priesthood. Hee Hee Hee I love how I found the devil cinnamon heads. I put Repentance and Priesthood on that jar. These jars I found at Walmart for .50 cents each. You could use mason jars...but just make sure it is a wide mouth top so it is easy to get the candy out. I used twine and actually hot glued a dot on the front and back as I was wrapping it. I added the tags before I knotted it. The tags are just printed out avery 5160 labels and I just put them on a design paper. I did make a stencil tag and used it to trace out all the other tags them punched a hole. HOOT HOOT. Easy and no machine needed.

I also did another fun spin off this idea for my family. The "Conference Store".

You use the same "keyword" tags, but I used 2 jars with 100 pennies each ( I didn' have enough pennies to fill it up) and each time a keyword is said during conference they pick a penny out of the jar. At the end of each session they go to the "Conference Store" and buy stuff. Each item will have a price tag on it. I used things like stickers, pop tarts, mini oreos, Animal Crackers, mini hand soaps, bubblegum and such. I used

the garage sale stickers you can buy at the store....Note: they say $ on them but it is cents for this game.

I am excited to see how it goes. I will post a follow up on any tweaks or suggestions I would make after doing it live with owletts.

Enjoy your weekend!!!

BRINGING HOMEMADE BACK

Soft Pretzel Pinterest Comparison Winner is...

I am a huge fan of soft pretzels. So for my first Pinterest Comparison Contest I chose Homemade Soft Pretzel Recipes.

 Here are the 5 contestants: 

Pretzel # 1 - http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/rosemary-sea-salt-pretzels-with-rosemary-cheddar-cheese-sauce/
                          I love that she added the rosemary. It adds a little something extra.

Pretzel # 2 - Pretel 2 - http://penniesonaplatter.com/2012/02/03/homemade-soft-pretzels/
                                                                  A great basic recipe
                                           
Pretzel # 3 - http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/buttery-soft-pretzels/Detail.aspx
                         This one added an additional 1/2 cup of sugar to the dough.
                    So if you are watching what you eat, this is NOT the pretzel for you.

Pretzel # 4 - http://smells-like-home.com/2012/01/soft-pretzel-bites-with-cheese-sauce/
                                                           A great basic recipe

Pretzel # 5 - http://www.ourbestbites.com/2012/05/homemade-soft-pretzels-and-cinnamon-sugar-pretzel-bites/

and the Winner is ......... Pretzel #5

When it came down to it. with minor differences # 1 , 2 , 4 and 5 are pretty much the same recipe. But # 5 went beyond the basic. You can have your regular pretzel with salt or you can choose to add cinnamon & sugar. Yumm


 here is the recipe for our winning pretzel.

Homemade Soft Pretzels
Recipe by Alton Brown, variations by Our Best Bites   WINNER

1 1/2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast (I used rapid rise yeast)
22 oz all-purpose flour, about 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
optional: additional melted butter and cinnamon-sugar
optional: powdered sugar, milk, melted butter for dipping

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour (tip: don’t add all the flour at once, just in case you don’t need it all.  Reserve a small amount and add as needed for a soft dough) and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, scrape the bowl clean and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. If you’re making pretzel “bites” put in as many as will fit without crowding.  Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula (a metal spider works great). Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with pretzel salt or kosher salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Sugar Version: Prepare as directed but don’t sprinkle with salt before baking.  Immediately after removing pretzels from oven, brush with melted butter and toss in a bowl of cinnamon-sugar.

Cinnamon Sugar Dippers:  Instead of shaping pretzels into the traditional shape, roll dough into ropes and cut into 1-2 inch pieces.  Continue preparing as recipe instructs, brushing with butter immediately after removing from oven and tossing in cinnamon sugar.  Create a dipping glaze by mixing about a cup of powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons melted butter and then add milk as needed, whisking until smooth.  Serve warm.

Keep an eye out for the cheese sauce comparison coming soon. You can't have a soft pretzel without the cheese now can you. 

Making a Ribbon Wreath

Today I am going to teach you how to make a door wreath with ribbon and a wire wreath. I chose to use green, yellow and orange ribbon to match my party.

I picked this wire wreath form up at joann’s for $1.99

First I tied the yellow ribbon the the inner 2 wires.

Then the orange to the outer 2 wires

then the green to the middle 2 wires

Continue to do the steps over and over again.

This is what the back of the wreath look like

Continue the 3 steps all the way around the wreath until it looks like this. Once you are at this stage, grab your scissors and start curling.

Here is the finished look.

If you have any questions please let me know. thanks